Page 44 of Finding Gwen

I tried to take a step back, but my legs refused to move. Matt reached out, his disgusting fingers trying to touch me, and I recoiled from his attempt. He roughly grabbed my chin, jerking my face toward him.

“You would be home where you belong if it weren’t for that little detective of yours,” he snarled. “So I have to take care of him first.” Fear consumed me and my racing heart made it hard to think straight. I pulled away from Matt, shaking my head.

“Matt, please,” I begged. He grabbed my upper arm, yanking me toward him. Stumbling, he kept me upright with my back pressed against his chest while I struggled against him. My thigh was on fire, the smallest of movements causing pain to shoot through my leg. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears from free falling down my cheeks

“No,” he spat. “I’m going to teach him what happens when someone tries to take something that belongs to me.”

“She doesn’t belong to you.” Anthony?

My eyes flew open, immediately meeting his gaze. Anthony stood in the doorway, his gun outstretched as he pointed it at Matt.

“She’s my fiancé. She wore my ring on her finger for over a year,” Matt exclaimed, pressing the gun into my side and my body harder into his. I winced from the pressure, a hiccup escaping my throat.

“Let her go, Matt,” Anthony commanded, his jaw set. This must be what he was like at work. His body projected confidence as he inched into the room, his muscles flexing as he gripped his gun tighter. There was determination in his eyes. I wanted him to look at me, to reassure me that everything would be okay.

“No. I’m not the villain in this story. You are!” Matt yelled. “You think no one knows, but I do. You interrupted my fun that night, so when your partner showed up asking questions, I followed him and watched.” Anthony stopped his advances, but his eyes never left Matt.

The gun pushed further into my side, a quiet sob escaping from my chest. “I may have fucked all those women trying to get Gwen out of my system, but that’s nothing compared to what you do. Tell her. Tell her about what happens in this room,” Matt hissed.

Anthony’s gaze flickered toward me and Matt laughed.

“Anthony, what is he talking about?” I softly asked.

“Gwen, I’m sorry,” Anthony muttered. “I never wanted you to have to find out like this.” Defeat warped his features, the grip on his gun loosening. Worry flashed across his eyes. Was it for me or whatever secret he was hiding?

“Anthony…” I whispered, terrified about what he had to say.

“Enough!” Matt yelled, and I flinched, the gun pressing harder into my side. Anthony went stoic once more, his hand tightening around his gun. “It doesn’t matter, anyway. Put your gun on the ground and kick it over. Otherwise, you’ll be cleaning her blood off this ground.” Anthony hesitated for a moment, his shoulders stiffening as he stood there. I wanted to scream at him to leave me, that I wasn’t worth it. Oliver needed him. Then Anthony lowered his gun, clicking the safety before setting it on the ground. He gave it a nudge with his foot and it slid, stopping a few inches from my feet.

Matt lifted the gun away from my side, aiming it at Anthony.

“You better not miss,” Anthony challenged, “because if you do, it will be my turn. Any goodness inside me is because of Gwendalyn. You tried to take her from me, from my son. You will not walk out of this warehouse alive if I’m still breathing.” Every emotion I was holding back broke free. Warm tears silently ran down my cheeks. Anthony met my gaze, and I wanted nothing more than for his lips to be on mine, comforting me and kissing away every tear that fell.

Matt’s arm across my body tightened, and something inside me snapped. I was no longer going to be the damsel in distress.

Everything happened so quickly. I threw my weight forward as Matt pulled the trigger, causing him to stumble. The gun went off and my ears began ringing. Anthony rushed forward, knocking Matt to the ground as I stumbled forward.

The gun clattered to the floor as Anthony gripped Matt’s shirt and punched him, the unmistakable sound of crunching bone filling the room.

Blood dripped from Matt’s nose, but Anthony didn’t stop. His fist connected with Matt’s eye, once, twice, more blood splattering into the air.

“Anthony,” I called out. Matt deserved this and worse, but I didn’t want to watch. I needed him to stop. He raised his fist, inches away from landing another hit.

“Anthony!” I yelled, my body shaking. Anthony froze, his fist now hanging in the air. He looked over his shoulder and the anger written all over his face should have had me running. Instead, I inched forward, as if approaching a wild animal. Anthony blinked, his glazed over eyes returning to normal as he released Matt, who crumbled to the ground with a groan.

Anthony rushed to me, untying my wrists before pulling me to his chest. “I thought I was going to lose you,” he whispered into my hair.

A hiss escaped from his throat when he tried to tighten his hold on me. I pulled away, the blood surrounding a hole in his shirt on his left shoulder catching my eye.

“You’re bleeding!” I gasped, stepping away and frantically looking around the room for something to hold pressure.

“Shit,” he sharply inhaled. His brows pinched together while he examined the hole in his shirt. He tried to walk toward me but it was useless. I rushed forward, catching his upper half as we both fell to our knees. My thigh screamed in protest, maneuvering Anthony until he was on his back. My heart pounded in my ears.

“Fuck. Okay. Shit.” I pressed my hands down onto his shoulder as hard as I could to try to stop the bleeding. There was too much, though.

Did the bullet hit his heart? The red liquid seeped out from around my fingers, mixing with the tears falling from my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t real.

He lifted his right arm, his hand resting on my cheek while his thumb tried to wipe away the tears. “Hey,” he whispered, causing me to look at him, “it’s going to be okay.” I shook my head, causing more tears to fall. His eyes fluttered as his arm fell to his side. I pushed harder onto his shoulder, and Anthony cursed.

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